Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

Like nothing else in Hawaii, Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor brings aviation history to life. Located on Historic Ford Island in hangars that withstood the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, the Museum tells the stories of aviation in the Pacific and pays tribute to the aviators who defended America’s freedom. TripAdvisor® named it one of America’s Top 10 Aviation Attractions.

Visit Two Battle-Scarred Hangars.
Housed in two hangars—one, with bullet holes from the morning of the attack–the Museum’s 48 aircraft and many exhibits include iconic aircraft from World War II, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam to the present day. On exhibit are very rare aircraft, such as the Curtiss P-40E Warhawk “Flying Tiger,” the Niihau Zero and a Stinson L-5E—the first American aircraft to land on Iwo Jima. The Museum’s exhibits include the F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-111 Aardvark, and a number of helicopters, including an AH-1 Cobra. There are themed exhibits such as the “MiG Alley” Korean War Exhibit, “Amelia Earhart in Hawaii” photo exhibit, a working 1940’s Restoration Shop, a celebration of commercial aviation in the Pacific—the Pan Am Exhibit. New is our B-17E, the one and only “Swamp Ghost.”

Go behind the scenes of the B-17E Swamp Ghost.
A quick add on to your Aviator’s Tour or your general admission experience, you’ll get up close and personal with the Museum’s newest docent-led, 30 minute tour behind the fences and up close to the Swamp Ghost. The legendary, very large aircraft is something to experience, still in its crashed condition. It went down in the swamps of New Guinea in 1942 and couldn’t be found until 1972.

Hangar 37

The visitors’ experience begins in Hangar 37, a 42,000 square foot former seaplane hangar that survived the December 7, 1941 attack.

Hangar 79

Hangar 79 is an 80,000 square foot seaplane hangar. At each end, the hangar doors’ blue glass windows are still riddled with bullet holes left by the Japanese attack. During the war it was a maintenance and engine repair facility, filled with fighters, bombers and patrol aircraft that were based in Pearl Harbor or en route to the front lines. Today, it holds many of our modern jets and historic helicopters.

Combat Flight Simulators, Laniakea Cafe, and Museum Store

Visitors then have the opportunity to become a WWII pilot in one of the Museum’s interactive Combat Flight Simulators. Fly planes off a runway take off and land on an aircraft carrier and dog fight with the enemy. Enjoy a delicious meal in the Museum’s restaurant, the Laniakea Cafe. The Museum Store features “everything to do with aviation” and Pearl Harbor.